Topic: Funnybooks (Read 170069 times)

Thad · « **Reply #1800 on:** March 20, 2012, 08:39:45 PM »

Saucer Country is Paul Cornell's new book about alien abduction and invasion. The most implausible thing about it is that it features a woman telling everyone that her grandparents were illegal immigrants, in a speech where she announces she's running for President. (Cornell DOES allow a bit of suspension of disbelief with a one-liner about how if there ever WERE a time where such a candidate was actually viable, it would be against a crop of GOP contenders very much like the one we're looking at now.)

Not quite sure how I feel about it from the first issue -- there was a spot that made me laugh, a spot that creeped me the hell out, and on the whole there was a whiff of Ex Machina about it -- but I'll be sticking around for #2.

And speaking of Ex Machina, I haven't gotten around to Vaughn's new book yet but I'll share my thoughts when I do.

Ted Belmont · « **Reply #1801 on:** March 21, 2012, 04:17:45 PM »

So uhh

Apparently the latest Wonder Woman retcon has turned the Amazons into succubus-like pirates who seduce sailors to get pregnant, then kill them. Any male children are then used as slave labor.

Büge · « **Reply #1802 on:** March 21, 2012, 04:26:58 PM »

My gosh, you're right.

Classic · « **Reply #1803 on:** March 21, 2012, 08:14:09 PM »

The reason Wonder Woman changed Greek myth up so much is that part of the point of those original myths was punishing women for having aspirations beyond the domestic. Right?

Mongrel · « **Reply #1804 on:** March 21, 2012, 08:45:08 PM »

I thought it was just the macho soldier's equivalent of the scary bedtime story. "Somewhere, in a far off land to the east, there's a tribe of incredibly ferocious women who can kill any man in single combat! And their own men are slaves! If you're a bad boy you'll be posted to the Euxine Sea!"

Thad · « **Reply #1805 on:** March 21, 2012, 08:48:12 PM »

AzzarellOOOOOOOOOOOO

Thad · « **Reply #1806 on:** March 21, 2012, 09:20:22 PM »

Saga reminds me, cursorily, of New Gods. Because it's a space opera about a war between two planets that features obvious biblical symbolism, and because there is some fucking crazy shit going on.

That's really where the similarity ends. This isn't a superhero book, and it's not like Kirby in writing, pacing, or art. (Maybe in the themes and Big Ideas.) And yes it goes without saying that only Jack Kirby was Jack Kirby.

But so far I quite like it. I think, in the span of 32 pages(? they're not numbered and I didn't count, but it FELT like 32 pages -- for only $2.99!), Vaughan and Staples managed to create a neat, weird universe, and fill my head with questions that I legitimately hope go unanswered.

(Vaughan's good at that. It's easy to give readers an explanation for the Big Mysteries -- and just as easy to let them down with an anticlimax that is not anywhere near as interesting as the mystery itself was. What killed all the men in Y? YOU NEVER FIND OUT. And that may seem, to the untrained eye, like it's lazy or a copout -- but it's just the opposite. It's very good instinct and remarkable self-control on Vaughan's part.)

Really good start, and I can see why it seems to be the New Hotness and is purportedly selling out everywhere. If you can still find a copy at cover price, I definitely recommend getting it; if not, I suspect there'll be a second printing, the way things are going.

Büge · « **Reply #1807 on:** March 22, 2012, 04:22:24 AM »

It's going to end in tragedy. You know this.

Thad · « **Reply #1808 on:** March 22, 2012, 10:28:06 AM »

I never got around to finishing Ex or Y, but yeah, so I hear.

At least we can assume Hazel survives, seeing as she's narrating and all.

MEANWHILE: Robert Crumb has opinions on people. Lots of people. Politicians, writers, artists, musicians.

Some of it's pretty interesting, but you can probably get the gist of it by repeating "I liked his early work, but then he got too commercial" over and over to yourself for an hour. Robert Crumb was into being into things before they were trendy before it was trendy.

Probably the most fascinating thing about it is that Crumb has learned to be diplomatic. Even when he says he doesn't like something, it's "It just doesn't do it for me" or "I could never get into it" -- he doesn't criticize the artist, he says it's not his thing personally. Not only that, but he always adds something positive -- "I never got into Jack Kirby, but I love his life story", or "Trina Robbins hates me and we have very different sensibilities but she's really done some great work bringing classic woman cartoonists the attention they deserve."

Zaratustra · « **Reply #1809 on:** March 22, 2012, 02:47:36 PM »

Quote from: Thad on March 21, 2012, 09:20:22 PM

What killed all the men in Y? YOU NEVER FIND OUT.

Dr. Mann's father perfected cloning, which caused a morphic field resonance to discard all males as obsolete. I mean, it was obvious.

Mongrel · « **Reply #1810 on:** March 22, 2012, 03:48:38 PM »

Quote from: Thad on March 22, 2012, 10:28:06 AM

MEANWHILE: Robert Crumb has opinions on people. Lots of people. Politicians, writers, artists, musicians.

Some of it's pretty interesting, but you can probably get the gist of it by repeating "I liked his early work, but then he got too commercial" over and over to yourself for an hour. Robert Crumb was into being into things before they were trendy before it was trendy.

Probably the most fascinating thing about it is that Crumb has learned to be diplomatic. Even when he says he doesn't like something, it's "It just doesn't do it for me" or "I could never get into it" -- he doesn't criticize the artist, he says it's not his thing personally. Not only that, but he always adds something positive -- "I never got into Jack Kirby, but I love his life story", or "Trina Robbins hates me and we have very different sensibilities but she's really done some great work bringing classic woman cartoonists the attention they deserve."

There's some neat comments in there, but after I read that page, everything I looked at was green for like the next five minutes.

Thad · « **Reply #1811 on:** March 23, 2012, 12:48:15 PM »

'Excitable Liefeld' Site Charts Rob Liefeld's Use of Exclamation Points on Twitter

Bongo Bill · « **Reply #1812 on:** March 24, 2012, 02:31:15 PM »

If the Big Two don't want to get into webcomics, then fans are just going to have to pick up the slack.

Little League is incredible.

Büge · « **Reply #1813 on:** March 27, 2012, 05:59:17 AM »

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/03/27/dan-didio-celebrates-his-ten-years-as-a-dc-comics-executive/

Mongrel · « **Reply #1814 on:** March 27, 2012, 06:32:31 AM »

Quote from: Büge on March 27, 2012, 05:59:17 AM

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/03/27/dan-didio-celebrates-his-ten-years-as-a-dc-comics-executive/

Oh man, see this other sidebar? http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/03/26/that-wondercon-incident-in-the-hilton-lobby/

There's a story there, alright.

Thad · « **Reply #1815 on:** March 27, 2012, 01:35:11 PM »

New Otomo series!!!!

Büge · « **Reply #1816 on:** March 31, 2012, 08:45:39 AM »

I learned three things about All-Star Superman.

1. [SPOILER]Leo Quintum is (probably) Lex Luthor, traveled back in time. The evidence is subtle enough that you'd miss it on the first few read-throughs: Quintum says he's trying to "escape the past" and that he "could be the devil himself", O is the 'opposite' of X (Lex/Leo), Lex names his monkey 'Leopold', both are super-scientists: one selfish, the other altruistic, etc.[/SPOILER]

2. [SPOILER]In issue 10, Superman saves a girl named Regan from suicide. In that same issue, a scientist from the 24th century contacts Superman to warn him about Solaris, the Tyrant Sun as thanks for saving his 21st century ancestor... implying that Regan was that ancestor.[/SPOILER]

3. [SPOILER]The title is a pun. "All-Star" is exactly what Superman becomes in the end.[/SPOILER]

Thad · « **Reply #1817 on:** March 31, 2012, 09:57:38 AM »

I was aware of #1 (actually a fairly common device in Superman stories -- Red Son has it that [spoiler]Superman wasn't sent from another planet, he was sent from Earth's future, and the House of El derives from Luthor, his distant ancestor[/spoiler], and it wasn't a new idea when Millar used it). Good catch on #2; pity that one didn't make it into the movie. (Actually, a pity they waited for Dark Knight Returns to decide to split a movie into two parts.) #3 strikes me as more of a lucky coincidence than anything as I'm guessing "All-Star" wasn't Morrison's title, but still, yeah, good point.

Büge · « **Reply #1818 on:** March 31, 2012, 11:12:31 AM »

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/03/31/james-stokoe-godzilla-idw/

:0

Thad · « **Reply #1819 on:** March 31, 2012, 06:18:47 PM »

Scott Pilgrim: Now With Photoshop Gradients

On the plus side, it should get much easier to find cheap used copies of the books I don't have.

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Author Topic: Funnybooks (Read 170069 times)